by Jan Castagnaro

Created on: January 22, 2008   Last Updated: April 06, 2009

"Poetry.com Scam"

It is amazing that Poetry.com still has so much life even though it is a scam. This site and its sister sites all work on the same principle-preying on the hopes and dreams of innocent people.

I remember learning about Poetry.com when I was 10 years old and my Great Grandmother Trudy was teaching me about poetry, writing, and entering contests. She was a pro at winning writing contests back in her day when magazines would host contests looking for unique jingles for common household products. She even won a new car, which she happily gave to my Great Grandfather Frank, since she did not drive. But, it has always been her sound advice that has kept me clear of companies that charade as honest legit contests. Grandma said, "You should never have to pay someone to see your work published, especially a contest." This has always kept me away from places like Poetry.com.

The whole premise behind Poetry.com is to get some hopeful person to submit a poem, no matter the quality. Then, Poetry.com declares the person a winner, no matter the quality. Yet, you cannot see your work published unless you actually buy the anthology volume it is going to be published in, along with other hopeful and wanting poets. In many cases, they also make you pay for the trophy or plaque you won and other nice items that showcase the poem you won with. You never see any actual winning, just a promise that now you are eligible to be submitted into the next level of the contest. Oh, and if you win the next phase, you will again get the chance to buy the book. It is a never-ending process of buying a book to see your work and more luring words to keep you hooked on submitting more poetry.

They try to make it look legit with their periodic conferences held all over the country, which you can once again pay them to be part of. Yet still, people keep paying them money to be part of this, which keeps fueling and helping them lucratively advertise their scam, enticing yet more naive hopeful people. Does anyone ever stop to wonder if anyone has ever reached that final phase and received the large cash prize that Poetry.com claims to offer? They are good at showing winner's testimonies, but are they real?

Interestingly, all one really has to do is research Poetry.com through the Better Business Bureau and discover that they have been perpetrating this scam for quite a long time, sadly. Now, you can even go to any search engine and type in "Poetry.com scam" and turn up page after page

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